The Big Four

What did France want from the treaty?

Security

Revenge

Reparations

Clemenceau : The Tiger

Clemenceau wanted to make sure that Germany could not invade France in the future. He was determined that Germany should be made to pay for the damage that had been caused in northern France by the invading German armies.

Slide 5

What did Britain Want?

David Lloyd-George

In public Lloyd-George said he wanted to punish the Germans. The British public was very anti-German at the end of the war.

In private he realised that Britain needed Germany to recover because she was an important trading partner.

He was also worried about the “disease from the east”, communism. The Russian government had been overthrown by a communist revolution in 1917. Lloyd-George believed that the spread of communism had to be stopped. A strong Germany would be a barrier against it.

Slide 6

What did America Want?

Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson wanted the treaty to be based on his Fourteen Points

He believed Germany should be punished but not severely. He wanted a just settlement that would not leave Germany feeling resentful

Wilson wanted to set up an international organisation called The League of Nations which would settle disputes

The American public did not support him. They were fed up with involvement in European affairs. The USA became more isolationist.

Slide 7

What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

To do with Germany’s armed forces :

The German army was to be reduced to 100,000 men. It was not allowed to have tanks.

Germany was not allowed an airforce

The area known as the Rhineland was to be de-militarised

The Allies were to occupy the west bank of the Rhine for fifteen years